Apparatus for displaying foodstuffs and other articles



- May 12, 1942. QUIRK 2,282,592

APPARATU S FOR DISPLAYING FOODSTUFFS AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed Aug. 8, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR EDWARD Q U/RK May 12, 1942. E. QUIRK v 2,282,592

APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING FOODSTUFFS AND OTHER ARTICLES Filed Aug. 8, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1,7" A z/vvmv TR EDWARD QU/RM ATTORNEY Patented May 12, 1942 I AND OTHER ARTICLES Edward Quirk, Great Ctosby, Liverpool, England Y Application August 8 1939, serial No.'289,086

In Great Britain August 9, 1938 2 Claims.

' This invention relates to apparatus for displaying foodstuifs and other articles, particularly for use in shop windows, and provides one or more compartments, show-cases, or the like, wherein foodstuffs or other articles may be readily placed and prominently displayed for inspection and sale, the or each compartment, or the like, being provided with a movable price ticket,

card, or thelike, which, while attracting the attention of passers-by, is adapted to alternately shield goods in one part of the compartment, orv the like, and at the same time indicate the nature and/or price of other goods in another part of the compartment, or the like.

' Apparatus for displaying foodstuffs and other articles, according to the invention, comprises a display structure wherein foodstufis and other articles may be readily placed and prominently displayed for inspection and sale; a price-ticket, card, or the like marked on both sides or a frame structure adapted to hold two price-tickets back to back, movably mounted at the front of said display structure; means connected with and adapted to automatically move said price ticket, or the like, such that nately shield goods in one part of the structure and at the same time indicate the nature and/or price of other goods of the structure.

Other features appertaining to my invention will become apparent in the following descripappearing in another part tion, these features being within the scope of the appended claims.

I will further describe my invention with the aid' of the-accompanying sheets of explanatory drawings which illustrate, by way of examples only, various modes of carrying the invention into effect.

In said drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, and

Fig. 2 a corresponding plan view of a display structure in the form of a show-case or cabinet and combined with a movableprice-ticket arrangement in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation, and

Fig. 4 a corresponding plan illustrating the movable price-ticket arrangement as applied to shelves fitted in a shop window.

Fig. 4a is an enlarged plan view of a driving transmission for the apparatus of Figs. 3 and 4.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a modification in the structure illustrated in Fig. 1.

In the several views like characters of reference denote like or equivalent parts wherever they occur.

the sameis caused to alternated a, a floor b goods in the left-hand side of the compartment 7 Referring to the drawings and first with more particular reference" to -the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, I provide a display structure in the form of a compartment, show-case or cabinet of wood or other suitable material and which comprises opposite side walls each desigand a top member 0. The structure thus formedis open at the front while its rear may be closed by aback piece d, but alternatively, the back of the cabinet may be also left open or it may be closed by a door whereby access to theinterior of the cabinet can be readily obtained, as when placing and removing goods, and especially if the front'of'the structure should be closed by a, transparent'cover.

Adjacent the front of the cabinet and extending vertically through the'middle thereof is a rotatably mounted rod, spindle or equivalent careywhereto are affixed upper and lower laterally extending arms respectively designated 1, f said arms being in the form of channels to serve as guides into which a'price-ticket,

card,. or the like,'such as 9, may be positioned or removed as and when required; Alternatively, said rod e may carry a frame structure adapted to hold two price-tickets back to back.

Said price-ticket g may be conveniently formed 7 from stiff cardboard and its dimensions are preferably such as to cover one half at a time of the front opening of the cabinet as shown in the drawings. Each side of the price-ticket y will be I marked so as to indicat'efthe nature of goods and/or the'price of same, or any other particulars appertaining to the goods placed in the cabinet.

Each side or half of the cabinet is adapted to hold different goods and the price-ticket g is arranged to be oscillated, by any suitable means provided for this purpose and operatively connected with either the upper or lower end of the ticket carrier rod e, through an imately 180 or thereabouts so that the nature and price of the goods in either side or half of the cabinet is alternately displayed. For example, when the price-ticket g is covering the as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the ticket will indicate the nature and price of the goods displayed in the right hand side of the compartment. Similarly, when the ticket has been moved to the position illustrated in dotted lines Fig. 2 so as to shield from view the goods in the right hand side of the cabinet, the ticket will indicate the nature and price of the goods now displayed in the left hand side of the compartment. The cabinet may angle of approxbe divided in half by a suitable partition while, if required, appropriate stands may be fitted in each half of the cabinet for supporting the goods to be displayed.

member of each uppermost cabinet. should have a bearing 2, whereas the remaining floor and top members of the super-imposed cabinets are provided with the aligning passage ways 3 through which the rods e may extend and freely rotate.

The mechanism for actuating said shafts or spindles e of the various compartments comprises a bar 71. reciprocably mounted in suitable guides, at the top of a shop window, said b ar carrying spaced pairs of vertical abutments or stops 7, 7' for engagement with respective cranklike arms is fixed to the upper ends of the shafts or spindles e. Said bar it is connected with a rotary disc Z adapted to be driven -at a suitable speed by a transmission m from a small electric motor n, said bar It being connected to disc I by a link 0 having its respective ends pivoted as at 4 to disc 1 and bar h; the arrangement being such that when said bar h is reciprocated, upon .the motor 11 being set in motion to rotate disc 1,

each of a pair of abutments a, 9' alternately engages with respective crank arms R: to effect rotation of the shafts or spindles e in both directions and so cause the requisite: oscillation of the price-tickets g carried by said shafts or spindles e. Thus the goods in the various compartments become alternately shielded and displayed by said price-tickets in the manner before described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2. As before stated, Figs. 3'and 4 illustrate the invention applied to a shelf structure and in this example larger compartments p are provided between those provided with the movable price-tickets g. Said compartments 1), may, however, be provided with movable price-tickets as hereinbefore described.

In the modification illustrated in Fig. 5, a movable price-ticket g carries, so asto move as one therewith, a frame extension g wherein the cabinet should have a bearing i 'and the top exhibited article or articles in one side of the cabinet appear when the nature and price of the article in the other side of the cabinet is being shown by the ticket g carrying said frame extension 9 Said frame extension 9 may be coloured or otherwise marked so as to correspond with its associated price-ticket. Further, the bottom member of the frame g is omitted, but if this member is provided, then a base or stand for the displayed articles or goods will be slotted or apertured to permit passage of said bottom member.

The-rods or spindles e carrying the movable price tickets g may be continuously or intermittently operated in any appropriate manner from a suitable source of power which may be associated with timing mechanism,

while provision may be made for moving each price-ticket separately or in various combinations.

The compartments of. the display structure may be fitted with stands for the article or goods to be displayed and such stands may be built up or otherwise varied in height so as to accommodate articles whether long or short.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for displaying foodstuffs and other articles whichcomprises an open end display structure wherein foodstuffs and other articles may be readily placed and p m y displayed for inspection and sale, a frame structure adapted to hold two cards with descriptive matter thereon back to back, said frame being movably mounted upon the open end of said structure, means connected with and adapted toautomatically move said frame for causing the cards to alternately shield goods in one part of the structure and at the same time indicate the nature and price of, other goods appearing in another part. of the structure.

'2. Apparatus for displaying foodstuffs and other articles comprising an open. end display structure, upper and lower guides having a card detachably carried therebetween. a spindle rotatably mounted upon said display structure at the open end thereof and connected to said guides, said card being formed to cover one half at a time of the front end of the structure and I having indicia upon both sides thereof, and means for rotating said spindle through approximately degreesfor placing said card in front of one side of said open end and then the other and thus displaying opposite sides of the card.

EDWARD QUIRK. 

